TikTok owner ByteDance is withdrawing from the gaming industry, with the news of a Nuverse restructure breaking over the weekend. The publisher of games like Marvel Snap and One Piece: Blood Routes is terminating hundreds of staff while looking to sell some of its more successful titles to other companies, marking something of a monumental shift in the mobile gaming arena.
Bloomberg and Forbes first reported on the news of Nuverse restructuring, with the publisher confirming it was essentially pulling out of the gaming market to news agency Reuters. ByteDance acquired Nuverse in 2017 and has since tried to establish a studio to compete with other Chinese giants such as Tencent and Hoyoverse. However, the studio has struggled to create a hit title like PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact. Marvel Snap is the closest thing Nuverse has had to a success story, and even with plenty of promotion and high-quality videos detailing new Marvel Snap cards each month, it’s not performing on the same level as the blockbuster mobile games we mentioned before.
The immediate concern for some was the status of Marvel Snap, with the game only just celebrating its first anniversary. However, it seems that developer Second Dinner has already addressed concerns surrounding the superhero CCG via X. An X post from Monday, November 2,7 reads; “Dear SNAPPERS, some of our players have expressed their concerns regarding reported structural changes at Nuverse. We wish to thank you for your concern and assure you that regardless of any changes at Nuverse, SNAP will continue to operate and flourish in the future!”
Unfortunately, the news of Marvel Snap’s survival doesn’t offer much respite for those out of a job due to the restructuring, with reports suggesting up to 700 Nuverse employees are losing their place in the company. There are also rumors that ByteDance is looking to sell off developer Moonton in its entirety, having bought the company for $4 billion back in 2021. While there’s no word yet of which games under the Nuverse umbrella might be up for sale, we’ll be keeping our eye on the most reliable industry sources to report the latest.
With that, you’re up to date with the reported Nuverse restructure and subsequent layoffs. If you’re more interested in Chinese mobile hardware than software, see our guides to the best Xiaomi phones and the best OnePlus phones.